Department of Transportation July 2, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FMCSA announces its decision to renew the exemptions from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 17 individuals. FMCSA has statutory authority to exempt individuals from the vision requirement if the exemptions granted will not compromise safety. The Agency has concluded that granting these exemption renewals will provide a level of safety that is equivalent to or greater than the level of safety maintained without the exemptions for these commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers.

FMCSA announces its decision to renew the exemptions from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 4 individuals. FMCSA has statutory authority to exempt individuals from the vision requirement if the exemptions granted will not compromise safety. The Agency has concluded that granting these exemption renewals will provide a level of safety that is equivalent to or greater than the level of safety maintained without the exemptions for these commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers.

This document notifies the public that the Federal Aviation Administration has granted a waiver to Gallatin County, MT pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 40125(d). The waiver enables Gallatin County to contract for a public aircraft operation to conduct search and rescue operations without complying with the 90-day lease minimum required under 49 U.S.C. 40102(a)(41)(D).

We are revising an earlier proposed airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 767-200, -300, -300F, and - 400ER airplanes. The NPRM proposed to require an inspection of the wing fuel tank access doors to determine whether impact-resistant access doors are installed in the correct locations, and to replace incorrectly installed doors with impact-resistant access doors. The NPRM also proposed to require an inspection for stencils and index markers on impact-resistant access doors, and application of new stencils or index markers if necessary. In addition, the NPRM proposed to require revising the maintenance program to incorporate changes to the airworthiness limitations section. The NPRM was prompted by reports indicating that a standard access door was located where an impact- resistant access door was required, and stencils were missing from some impact-resistant access doors. This action revises the NPRM by adding airplanes to the applicability. We are proposing this supplemental NPRM (SNPRM) to prevent foreign object penetration of the fuel tank from uncontained engine failure or tire debris, which could cause a fuel leak near an ignition source (e.g., hot brakes or engine exhaust nozzle), consequently leading to a fuel-fed fire. Since these actions impose an additional burden over that proposed in the NPRM, we are reopening the comment period to allow the public the chance to comment on these proposed changes.

We propose to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 75-20-06, which applies to certain Alexandria Aircraft LLC (type certificate previously held by Bellanca Aircraft Corp., Viking Aviation, Inc., and Bellanca, Inc.) Models 14-19-3A, 17-30, 17-30A, 17-31, 17-31A, 17- 31ATC, and 17-31TC airplanes. AD 75-20-06 requires repetitively inspecting the aft fuselage structure near the top of the vertical side tubing, which connects the horizontal stabilizer carry-through to the upper fuselage longeron, for cracks and installing the manufacturer's service repair kit as a terminating action for the repetitive inspections to repair any cracks found. Since we issued AD 75-20-06, we have determined that installing the service kit has not prevented cracks from occurring. We have also determined that all affected airplane serial numbers should be included in the Applicability section. This proposed AD would require continued repetitive inspections of the aft fuselage structure near the top of the vertical side tubing for cracks and making all necessary replacements of cracks parts. This proposed AD would also add additional serial number airplanes to the Applicability section. We are proposing this AD to correct the unsafe condition on these products.

This document corrects a date and citation in a Federal Register notice published on Tuesday, May 27, 2014, that announced an information collection request (OMB Control No. 2127-0512) was forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget for review and comment.

In accordance with the requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the following information collection: Voluntary Near Miss Reporting in Oil and Gas Operations on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This data collection effort supports a multi-year program focused on improving safety in the OCS by collecting and analyzing data and information on near misses and other unsafe occurrences in all oil and gas operations on the OCS. In August 2013, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and BTS signed an Interagency Agreement (IAA) to develop and implement a voluntary program for confidential reporting of `near misses' occurring on the OCS. BTS will analyze and aggregate information provided under this program and publish reports that will provide BSEE, the industry and all OCS stakeholders with essential information about accident precursors and other hazards associated with OCS oil and gas operations so that all stakeholders can use that information to reduce safety and environmental hazards and continue building a more robust OCS safety culture. This information collection is necessary to aid BSEE, the oil and gas industry and other stakeholders in identifying root causes of potentially unsafe events.

We propose to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2013-24- 13, which applies to certain The Boeing Company Model 737-100, -200, - 200C, -300, -400, -500, -600, -700, -700C, -800, and -900 series airplanes. AD 2013-24-13 currently requires replacing the pivot link assembly for certain airplanes, replacing the seat track link assemblies or modifying the existing seat track link assembly for certain airplanes, or modifying the existing seat track link assembly fastener for certain airplanes. AD 2013-24-13 also requires inspecting, changing, or repairing the seat track link assembly for certain other airplanes. Since we issued AD 2013-24-13, a paragraph reference was found to be mis-identified. This proposed AD would correct this paragraph reference. We are proposing this AD to prevent seat detachment in an emergency landing, which could cause injury to occupants of the passenger compartment and affect emergency egress.